Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $20.36 Million Holdings in The Progressive Corporation $PGR

Key Points

• Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its Progressive stake by 13% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,368 shares and leaving it with 89,410 shares worth about $20.36 million.
• Institutional ownership in Progressive remains high at 85.34%, with several large firms such as Norges Bank and Capital International Investors making sizable holdings or additions.
• Progressive reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.80, and the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share to be paid July 10.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,410 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 13,368 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Progressive were worth $20,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Progressive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,836,094,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in Progressive by 78.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,704,197 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,384,082,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045,732 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Progressive by 26.1% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,167,940 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,757,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,314,864 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $353,906,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 4th quarter valued at $185,761,000. 85.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on PGR shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Progressive from $218.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Progressive in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Progressive in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $238.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $231,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 28,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,733,600. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,343 shares of company stock valued at $1,470,355 in the last ninety days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Progressive Price Performance

Shares of PGR opened at $204.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $119.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.28. The Progressive Corporation has a 12-month low of $189.20 and a 12-month high of $269.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.47% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Progressive Corporation will post 16.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Progressive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2.03%.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.

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